The invention is related to the field of food or edible material processes, compositions and products. The invention is more particularly related to animal food prepared using distiller""s or brewer""s residue.
Feedblocks are animal feed supplements for livestock. They are dry or moist blocks of concentrated food that farmers give to their grazing animals. Feedblocks provide cost-effective nutritious food that supplements animal grazing. Protein, minerals, and calories are typically available in feedblocks to help livestock grow and remain healthy. A feedblock is soft enough for an animal to eat but hard enough so that it is not eaten too quickly. A useful source of food for feedblocks is the remnants of grain that has been used to make alcohol, e.g., distiller""s or brewer""s residue.
A conventional process for making feed blocks is shown in FIG. 1. Whole corn is milled and combined with water in a slurry tank. The mixture is processed in a jet cooker, treated with enzymes in a liquefaction vessel, cooled, and fermented with yeast and enzymes in a fermentation vessel. The mixture is treated in a column distillation center to remove ethanol. A centrifuge is used to separate the remaining material into two portions, one that is predominantly water (called thin stillage) and one that is predominantly solids (called wet cake, wet grains, and wet distiller""s grain). The stillage has some of its water removed in an evaporator to make syrup (also called condensed distillers solubles, CDS).
A conventional process dries the wet cake in a drier that is typically a drum or rotary dryer. The dryer removes the water from the wet cake and converts it into another product called distillers dried grains (DDG). The DDG is recombined with water, syrup, and other materials to make a feedblock.
The step of drying the wet cake drives off moisture and produces emissions that requires the use of scrubbers and various emission control devices. Despite the emissions control devices, the wet cake drying process typically produces odors that many people find to be unpleasant. The drier used for the drying step is typically large and expensive to purchase and operate because it requires heat that must be generated by burning fuel or consuming other energy. The step of making syrup consumes energy because it requires the use of an energy-consuming evaporator.
The present invention provides methods for producing a high quality feedblock from wet cake so that the step of drying the wet cake is substantially reduced or essentially eliminated. The methods of the invention save substantial costs and improve efficiency of the feedblock production process. The methods of the invention also utilize less syrup than conventional processes.
An embodiment of the invention includes a process for making a livestock feed supplement by compressing a mixture of materials that comprises wet cake into a feedblock that is consumable by a livestock animal. In another embodiment of the invention, the method further comprises a step of making the mixture with a water concentration from about 15% to about 50% by weight preparatory to compression, and more preferably from about 25% to about 40%. In a related embodiment of the invention, a feedblock is made by the process of using wet cake.
An embodiment of the invention includes a process for making a livestock feed supplement by making a mixture of materials that comprises wet cake, with the mixture being between about 20% to about 60% wet cake by weight, preferably from about 25% to about 50% wet cake by weight, more preferably from about 30% to about 45% wet cake by weight, with the wet cake being from about 60% to about 75% water by weight.
An embodiment of the invention is a livestock animal feedblock having a mixture of materials that is consumable by a livestock animal with a crude protein content of at least about 10% and having from about 3% to about 25% syrup by weight, preferably from about 5% to about 20%, more preferably from about 5% to about 10% syrup by weight, with the syrup being from about 25% to about 35% solids. The feedblock mixture may further have from about 20% to about 60% wet cake by weight, preferably from about 25% to about 50% wet cake by weight, more preferably from about 30% to about 45% wet cake by weight, with the wet cake being from about 60% to about 75% water by weight. The feedblock may further have mineral supplements and have from about 10% to about 35% DDG by weight with the DDG being from about 10% to about 15% by water by weight.
An embodiment of the invention includes a livestock animal feedblock with a mixture of materials that is consumable by the livestock, in the form of a substantially solid block having from about 20% to about 60% wet cake by weight, preferably from about 25% to about 50% wet cake by weight, more preferably from about 30% to about 45% wet cake by weight, with the wet cake being from about 60% to about 75% water by weight. The feedblock mixture may further have from about 5% to about 10% syrup by weight, the syrup being from about 25% to 35% solids. The feedblock may further have mineral supplements and have from about 10% to about 35% DDG by weight, with the DDG being from about 10% to about 15% by water by weight.
While the invention is amenable to various modifications and alternative forms, specifics are provided by way of example in the specification. It should be understood, however, that the intention is not to limit the invention to the particular embodiments described. On the contrary, the invention is to cover all modifications, equivalents, and alternatives falling within the spirit and scope of the invention.